Toys That Cost $25 Now Cost $45. Tariffs Did That.
Paulina Gamino runs Misfit Toys, a small retail toy store. She told NPR this week that toys her shop used to sell at $25 are now priced at up to $45 because of import tariffs, and that she’s cutting back orders because customers won’t pay the new prices.
The story is small-scale and entirely legible. Tariffs raise the cost of imported goods. Retailers pass some of that cost to consumers. Consumers buy less. Small retailers — who don’t have the negotiating leverage of major chains to absorb costs or renegotiate supplier terms — feel it first and hardest.
The toys are mostly manufactured in China. The tariffs on Chinese imports have remained elevated and in some categories increased. The math for a small toy shop is simple and not in her favor.
For the administration, the argument is that short-term pain produces long-term domestic manufacturing gains. For Gamino, the short term is now, and the long-term gains are not arriving at her storefront anytime soon.